I mentioned about the kit's large size back in Part 7. Here's an explicit comparison with 00 Gundam from the same series to have a clearer idea on the size matter:

Mr. Bushido's Ahead is overwhelmingly bigger as compared to 00 Gundam it seems - the latter's head height is just up till the chest level of Mr. Bushido's Ahead. ^^ If not for the pair of GN Drives over its shoulders to bulk up the overall look, 00 Gundam would look even smaller in comparison. ^^

Even with the O Raiser attached, the size difference between the two kits is still very obvious. In fact, the two large wing binders now looks like very obvious appendages added to 00 Gundam for it to win against Mr. Bushido's Ahead in the size area, but they are not exactly helpful though. ^^; The inherently large size of Mr. Bushido's Ahead is a lot more impressive than all the "accumulated" bulk 00 Gundam could amass through its various add-ons in my opinion. ^^

Since 00 Gundam and O Raiser are featured in this posting, there's no way I'm allowing it to go back onto the display shelves without being wrecked by the main focus of this review series. XD

It's obviously not the Red Comet, but with such flexible leg articulation design, it would be a waste not to show off Mr. Bushido's Ahead in that kicking pose above. XD It's the protagonist Gundam in a duel against a red MS piloted by a masked ace. The <insert red MS name here> Kick idea came to my mind very naturally. ^^

A comparison with Tieren Ground Type to retrace some of the design features of that grunt suit that are inherited by Mr. Bushido's Ahead:

While the proportion is similar, Tieren Ground Type is still evidently smaller than Ahead.

The cylindrical shoulder ...

... and hip joints are the immediate design similarities that can be seen on the two kits. ^^

Not only do they look similar, the shoulder and hip joints on Mr. Bushido's Ahead work in almost the same way as the same components on Tieren. Also, as mentioned in Part 5, the swivel joint incorporated into Ahead's forearm can be seen on the 1/100 scale version of Tieren as well. Suffice to say, in terms of their model kits, there are more ways this GN Tao Drive-powered MS is connected to Tieren than meets the eyes (that's four versus one XD).

Lastly, just for the fun of it, a comparison with a High Grade kit I'm pretty sure even Mr. Bushido's Ahead will find difficult to topple in terms of size. ^^

Proportion-wise, Nu Gundam is slightly smaller than Mr. Bushido's Ahead, but it's taller. The omission of the six Fin Funnels on the former has to be taken into consideration as well. ^^ Since the universe of "Char's Counterattack" is filled with MSs that are much larger than most other Gundam series, its model kits are monsters to most others in the same scale anyway - Sazabi would dwarf Mr. Bushido's Ahead in comparison for sure. ^^ However, for Mr. Bushido's Ahead to come close to Nu Gundam in terms of size, it's safe to say that it's quite a monster in the series where it came from. ^^

Size is a main theme discussed in this particular posting, and it's definitely one of the most interesting features of this model kit. It's tall, big, red in color and fierce in look, all which are design features I explicitly look for on a model kit, and they are all nicely realized on this kit. ^^ Coupled with its fierce appearance is awesome articulation that enables plenty of nice action poses with its beam swords, so it's definitely a model kit that's great to play with as well. All in all, if you're looking for a Gunpla that features the same prefered elements as mentioned above, Mr. Bushido's Ahead is definitely a kit worth selecting. ^^

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

As with the previous posting, the model kit is posed with the shield mounted on its right forearm and the longer GN Beam Sword equipped to its left hand. This is a deliberate arrangement to depict Mr. Bushido/Graham Aker's unique left-handed piloting preference. Since the slot is also available on the left forearm, the shield can obviously be switched over onto the other arm, as with GN Beam Sword to realize a more "conventional" display of having the main weapon wielded by the right hand. However, since this is a personalized MS of Mr. Bushido, I'll definitely follow his piloting style in posing this kit. ^^ I suppose the rarity of seeing a left-handed MS is one of the really special features of all the MSs piloted by Mr. Bushido/Graham Aker. ^^ I'll remember to follow this trait for Over Flag and Masurao when I assemble these two kits in the future. ^^

The last posting for Mr. Bushido's Ahead, which will feature cameo appearances of two other High Grade kits from "MS Gundam 00" will be up next. ^^